Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

There are many a thing you can buy from your local big box store or online store. Depending on how soon you want it, you can get it with free shipping or pay a little extra and get it the next day. Being a very consumer-driven society, we like to have things in our hands as soon as we want them. You can find just about everything you want online, that is, with one exception – eternal life.

In our Gospel account today, Jesus addressed the Father and made a statement that only He could make: “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all, whom you have given him.” You want eternal life? You’re not going to find it via any physical or online store. To find eternal life, you must be connected to Jesus, for it is Jesus alone who gives eternal life. And the only way to be connected to Jesus isn’t because of you, as hard as that is to admit. Unfortunately, we are told that we get to choose Jesus. We’re asked when we made the decision to accept Jesus into our hearts. However, that is not scriptural. In fact, Jesus tells us, “You did not choose me, but I chose you….”

If you want eternal life, you need to be connected to Jesus. But what exactly does that mean? Is there something you have to do, something you have to believe? As far as something to do, the answer is nothing, for Christ has already done what is necessary to redeem you, a poor, miserable sinner. He has gone from heaven to earth and hell for you. And after His resurrection, after appearing to countless souls in order for them to believe that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, He ascended back to heaven where He judges the living and the dead. He has done all that you could not do, all that you could never do. He has kept God’s Law perfectly, making full atonement for the sins of the world. The only thing left to do then is to believe, and even that is something you cannot do.

Do not forget Jesus’ words that you did not choose Him, and so writes Luther, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him….” We don’t get to choose Jesus, nor could we. Through the work of the Holy Spirit are we able to believe in Jesus. But what do we believe about Jesus? Do you believe that Jesus is God or do you believe that Jesus is man? Do you believe that Jesus is real or just a figment of the church’s making? What you believe about Jesus is indeed important when it comes to faith, for you can believe in Jesus and believe wrongly.

When it comes to Jesus, one must believe certain things. One must believe that Jesus Christ is both true God and true man. One must believe that Jesus Christ is the sole means of salvation and that only by what He has done do we inherit eternal life. Jesus also tells us, “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” There is only a singular God that saves. It is not a god of our choosing. It is not any god that we want. It is the God of creation. It is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

As for Jesus, it is not the chalk-sized Jesus in your heart. It is not the Jesus that gives you approval of everything you do, regardless of whether or not your actions are sinful. It is the Jesus who laid down His life, only to take it up again on behalf of the Father’s will.

This is the glory of the Son: To serve all, according to His Father’s bidding. His service is not just beginning, and He clearly prays, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” He has lived that life of work – He has fulfilled the prophecies by His teaching, His miracles and wonders. He’s been the righteous servant, upheld by God as He has mercifully exercised justice. He has lived His perfect life for the world, to credit all who believe in Him with His righteousness. Now, the ultimate glory: He is going to die for the world.

Jesus’ glory, then, is to fulfill the work that His Father has given Him. It will not be glorious in the world’s terms. In exchange for beauty, the Lord takes a beating. In exchange for strength, He accepts weakness. Instead of putting His foes in their place, He allows their mockery on the cross. It is not glorious in the world’s eyes, but it is the Father’s will. We behold His glory at the cross, full of grace and truth.

In order for this to all take place, you need an intercessor; you need Christ. It is Christ who always makes appeals for you on high. You can be certain that the heavenly Father hears the intercession of His Son and answers in your favor. The intercession that Jesus prays for is “Holy Father, keep them in your name,” the name of protection against an evil world.

You need the Lord’s intercession, for the world resolves war against you and your unity with Him. You are contending against lethal powers that intend to destroy your unity with the Father and the Son, namely, the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh, in order to lead you to abandon His name, Word, and work. There is nothing more that the devil wants than for you to doubt, to question God. If you do that, then the devil wins.

Christ our Lord gave to His disciples His Word, but not just to them; He has given that Word to you. There in His Word are the promises that He has made for you. There in His Word is the promise of forgiveness for you. There in His Word is the promise of salvation for you. There in His Word is the promise of everlasting life for you. These are promises that are not made lightly. These are promises that came at great cost, all for you. It cost the Father His own beloved Son. It cost the Son His very life. Given the costs, we would say they were high, maybe even too high. Could we really justify the life of our only-begotten son for someone else? I think we would be hard-pressed to justify that, yet God did not think twice about it. He did not question the price because you are His creation and when He created you in His image, that is how He meant for you to be: holy, perfect, without sin. The only way for creation to be restored is by the death of Christ; but not just by His death but by His resurrection also.

This is why Jesus prays in the text today: That you would thankfully receive His Word and gladly hear and learn it. That you would call upon His Name in time of trouble, pray, praise and give thanks. That you would hear Him and call upon His Name, rejoicing in the forgiveness He has won for you, giving thanks that He has united you with the rest of the Church. Until then, listen to the Lord Jesus pray, for He prays for you and all of creation. Because of Christ and what He has done, for all that He prays, you may be certain you are forgiven for all of your sins. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.  The text for the sermon this morning comes from the Epistle, which was read earlier.

In Luther’s Morning Prayer, we pray the following: “I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger….”  We pray that for a reason: as Christians, we will be harmed and there will be danger.  Peter recognized that in our text.  Although the followers of Jesus could not be accused of wrongdoing by the unbelieving community, their faith in Jesus of Nazareth and the kindness and love which they strove to show everyone set them apart from most other people, but also set them up for ridicule and abuse from the community.  How were the Christians to act toward those who falsely accused them of doing evil?  How should they react in the face of questions and objections?  Ask yourself how are you, as a Christian, to act toward those who falsely accuse you of doing evil?  How should you react?

Jesus tells us how we are to react: “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil.  But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well….”  Instead of trying to get even for evil done to us, instead of plotting on how to make the person pay for evil done to us, Jesus says that we are to turn the other cheek; we are not to seek vengeance for wrongs done to us.

Peter has said that on most occasions no one will insult, threaten or harm us if we do what is good.  But even if we should experience suffering for doing the good things we do in Christ, there is no reason for us to be afraid of such threats.  The unstated question is: “How can we be unafraid of those who threaten us even when we have done nothing wrong?”  The answer is clearly given by Peter: “In your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” 

Peter’s answer may or may not make sense.  Therefore, we must ask the good Lutheran question: What does this mean?

First and foremost, we are to “regard Christ the Lord as holy.”  To regard Christ as Lord is to give the Savior first place in our hearts, that is, keep the First Commandment.  Just as every sin of thought, word or action can be traced to the sinful desires of the heart, so the effective rule of Christ in our lives must begin with His reign in our hearts.  Christ rules in the hearts of all who trust in Him for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life and who rely on Him for providential care and protection.

All too often, we put many things before Christ: our families, our jobs, our hobbies, our problems and many other things.  If there is time left in our busy schedules or our hectic lives, then we will make that time for Jesus; however, that is not the way that it should be.  Jesus is not someone that we can put on a shelf, pull Him out when we need Him, then put Him back on the shelf until the next time.  Christ does not place anything above His bride, the Church.  He came to give His life for the Church.  He died so that His bride, the Church, could live.  He died so that YOU could live.  Nothing in this world is greater than each and every one of God’s children.

The second half of Peter’s answer is just as difficult, if not more than the first half: “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” 

The situation in which a Christian may find himself could prove personally embarrassing, potentially threatening or even life-endangering, but he is to be ready to give an answer.  He is to be ready to make an “apology,” that is, a defense of his faith.

Making an apology of the faith is nothing new to Lutherans.  We even have a document in our Lutheran Confessions entitled “The Apology of the Augsburg Confession.”  The princes of the German provinces gave their statement of faith to Emperor Charles V in the Augsburg Confession.  When the Roman Catholic Church refused to accept that statement of faith, Philip Melanchthon issued the Apology, an even greater defense of the faith which the Lutherans held.  Both documents were essentially a death sentence, insofar as they were confessions which were contrary to that of the Roman Catholic Church, yet both were presented and the Lutherans refused to back down on their confession and defense of the faith.

Times have changed since 1530.  A defense of the faith is not as quick to come by as it was then.  We don’t want to make a confession of faith because our non-Christian friends may look at us differently if we start with the “God-talk.”  Our defense of the faith may not be good for our career.  It may not be good for our reputation.  It may not be good for any number of things.  However, that doesn’t mean that we are not to give a defense of the faith, especially when the opportunity presents itself to us.

The simple message which we proclaim is again given to us by Peter: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.”  In one sentence Peter summarizes the scope and effect of Christ’s work.  He tells us what Jesus did and how effective His work was while reminding us that Jesus is the sinless Son of God who died for sinners.  Jesus is not our Savior because He gave himself as an example for us to follow so that we might save ourselves.  Jesus is our Savior because He is the perfect Son of God who gave His life in our place in order that we might be brought to God.  This faith and hope is not a misplaced faith or an unsure hope.  Jesus is the perfect substitute who has fully completed His atoning work on our behalf and has brought us, without sin, to God.  All of this was done for us through His life, death and resurrection.  This gift of everlasting life is given to us in our Baptism.  Baptism is more than a rite of initiation, more than a church ceremony or christening.  Baptism saves you.  How does Baptism save you?  Baptism saves you “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”  Without Jesus’ resurrection, there would be no baptism, no salvation; in fact, there would be no righteousness at all.

Challenges will indeed come in your life.  As the baptized children of God, those made to be His disciples through Baptism and the teaching of God’s Word, you are continually being made ready to make a confident defense of the eternal hope that is in you through the life, death, descent into hell, resurrection, and reign at the right hand of the Father of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Listening to Jesus talk, He often speaks in parables, metaphors, what some might call flowery language. His parables often times are simple sounding, but rather complex in understanding. On more than one occasion the disciples had to ask Jesus just what exactly He meant in His parable. As we look at our Gospel for today, Jesus describes who He is and what He has come to do. He uses a description that the people should be familiar with already – a shepherd.

Shepherds have a single job – to tend to the sheep. But that job entails quite a bit. It means providing for them. Breaking that down, it means feeding them, protecting them, mending them when they are injured. It means setting their needs above your own. It means fighting off the evil that threatens to harm the sheep. That’s what a good shepherd does.

Jesus makes the distinction in our text between that of a true shepherd and one who is a stranger. For the true shepherd, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” The true shepherd knows the sheep entrusted to him. He calls them by name and leads them. He goes in front of the sheep to keep whatever evil may happen at bay. He defends the sheep from all harm and danger, putting himself between the sheep and danger.

In contrast, Jesus also speaks of a different kind of person, the anti-shepherd, “he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.” This anti-shepherd cares very little, if at all, for the sheep. He does not have their best interests at heart. The sheep know this, for “a stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This anti-shepherd is out for number one, himself. The sheep mean little to him.

For anyone listening to Jesus, it should be easy to make the distinction between one who is a true shepherd and one who is not. Unfortunately, the people did not understand Jesus and what He was telling them. There are those who proclaim to be a shepherd who instead are wolves in shepherd’s clothing. Thieves and robbers don’t care about the people they steal from. There is no connection to them other than what they take from you. Once they’ve gotten what they can from you, you are of no use to them anymore and they move on to the next target. What we so desperately need is a shepherd, someone who will care for us.

Fortunately for us, we do have a Shepherd, one who cares for the sheep, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s great to have a shepherd, but what will the shepherd do? The shepherd is one who will lay down his life for the sake of the flock. He will be the one who will tend to the needs of the flock, great or small, because they are his flock. He will be the one who will provide for all of their wants and needs, keep them safe and do all that is within his power to make sure that nothing harmful happens to the flock.

Isn’t that the description of our Shepherd? We just celebrated Easter a few weeks ago and what is the purpose of Easter? It is the celebration of our Shepherd who laid down His very life for us, only to take it up again and defeat sin, death, and the devil for us. Jesus tended to the needs of the people, healing them of their earthly diseases but more importantly, healing us of our eternal disease of sin. Nothing that you and I could do would ever be enough to cure the disease of sin and death and so Jesus comes and says, “I will rid sin and death from my Father’s creation. I will die so creation will never die again.” Jesus is the one who went to the utter depths of hell so that we would not suffer. A thief and robber would never do such a thing, but a true shepherd would.

A true shepherd is what you need and a true Shepherd is what you receive in Jesus Christ. Jesus just a few verses after our text calls Himself the Good Shepherd. He says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” There can be no better description of what Jesus does than that, laying down His life for us.

Jesus is clear when He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep…. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” Jesus is the door. Through the door of His holy life and bloody sacrifice, we have eternal life. Through Him and Him alone, we have heaven. He’s a door that is dripping with water and blood through whom we find good pasture.

The final words of Jesus in our text speak to what Jesus does: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” He’s gone before you into the grave — the shepherd has laid down His life for the sheep. But here’s the thing: He’s come back out. He’s risen from the dead. So He says to you, “Yea, though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, fear no evil, for I am with you. I will comfort you — and I will raise you up.”

That’s what the Good Shepherd does: He’s gone before you in life and death and resurrection. He’s been to hell and back for you, then ascended into heaven. Now He calls you by His Word, feeds you with His Supper: and He says to you, “I came so that you might have life—and have it abundantly.” He gives you grace abundantly—He forgives you more sins than you could ever commit.

Your Good Shepherd has given up His life for you. He took upon Himself all the times that you live for yourself and not others. He died for all the times you try to make yourself the door to everlasting life. He rose again on the third day. You have life in His name, in His Baptism. You are His own sheep. He goes before you, protects and guides you. He meets your enemies head-on and defeats them for you. You follow Him, for you know His voice. You are His sheep. He isn’t just any shepherd, but your Good Shepherd, the one who lays down His life for you on the cross, the righteous sacrifice that makes you acceptable to God.

It is He who loves God perfectly for you. It is He who loves His neighbor perfectly for you. It is He who died for you. It is He who rose from the dead for you. It is He who ascended for you. He is the one whose body is the door to salvation. It is He who calls you by name. He has done all that you need. And He has done it so that you can live with Him forever. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.